Always stumbling onto "new" instruments and their sound to discover, I'd like to share my experiences with others regarding the instruments I used on my CD nr. III. You can find the guitars I played my piece on by the number that has been used at the end of the announcements of the pieces played on this CD. I'm using the same numbers now.
NR. 1
The Esteve ELEC I was able to buy on an auction in
England. It all was much easier to get those instruments
back to The Netherlands as at that time Great Britain was
part of the EU. We almost felt like being part of a family
there and we've met several wonderful persons there.
The Esteve Elec is still in production and has then been
equipped with an element to amplify the guitar in a credible
way. For me, the experience with a cutaway, was an eye opener.
It feels more comfortable. Maybe not that loud, this guitar
surely has a nice intimate sound and records well.
Built with premium materials such as ebony and Indian
rosewood it has the ability to be a "near" concert instrument.
NR. 2
Nr. 2 the Thomas Prisloe has been offered multiple times at
the Gardiner Houlgate auctions so they had to lower the price
every time it went up for sale. In a like new condition and
supplied with an expensive brand new TKL case it was a
steal. It is a strange instrument as Thomas Prisloe had to
rebuilt some damaged Pavan guitars coming from Spain
where they have been built to his specs. On this one, the
soundboard has been built by Thomas Prisloe himself:
A top quality, narrow grained spruce soundboard. He did
so with only a small number of guitars back in 2008.
Provided with a kind of Torres Head I dig these headform
more than those he uses on his entirely handbuilt concert
models. Huge sound and different timbres at different
places: A real concert instrument.
NR. 3
As we are frequent visitors of all sort of household auctions
we do find some promising instruments among the "trash"
and "old stuff no one wants". This was a typical example
of a guitar that made me curious: an Italian builder:
"Domenico Fischetti". an Italian cabinet builder that
later (around 1930) tried out his luck in Brussels, repairing
and building guitars for students of the conservatory there.
Not well known but his work detests love for his guitars.
Beautiful inner woodwork, Torres bracing and premium
materials though he didn't payed that much attention
to ornamentation. He has been registered in the Vannes
dictionnary, a bookwork for violin builders.
I immediately saw the use of Brasilian rosewood on this
guitar and though there was a lot left to be done on this
guitar, I figured 12 Euro's wasn't that much for an in-
strument like this. It has a nice but not very loud tone
but he holds up well in a recording process.
NR.4
The Antonio Duran Ferrer guitar from Granada was a find
near Sevilla. The guy who sold it was able to buy a Manuel
Contreras guitar so he sold this one. The Ferrer dynasty still
exists in Granada and can be found in the Questa de Gomerez
a "calle" that leads from the centre of Granada to the Alhambra.
A small shop lead by Eduardo Ferrer, the son of Antonio.
In fact, Antonio was not a "real" Ferrer but married the
daughter of the grandfather of his son.
A spruce top and Indian rosewood sides and back and
what often happened in Spain: Not built by Antonio
Duran Ferrer who lost an arm in an accident but by
another famous guitarrero: Rafael Moreno Rodriguez.
I showed Rafael this guitar. "Definitely built by me"
he proclaimed. Somewhat lighter, vibrant sound that
sometimes is a bit difficult to "control".Yet, the
reward is there when you treat it the right way.
NR.5
The Mass Hirade from Japan, a country that places itself on the
map, regarding the skilled luthiers that brought it to world fame.
Mass Hirade was a pupil of Masaru Kohno but didn't took over
the bracing patterns, Kohno provided his guitars with. He went
for the more "classical approach": Torres bracing. Good materials
and very nice decoration details but probably still a factory
made guitar. Vibrant, not that loud but with a bright voice.
I bought it at an auction where it still remained at his "entrance"
price and had to go to England to collect it at an internet
friend of mine. We had some lovely days there and visited
Tim and his parents which resulted in an unforgettable
experience with these people.
Probably born in the Takamine workshops the remark has to
be made that it is the "easiest to play" guitar in my collection.
Hardly believable as all elements have been mounted
meticulously by real craftsmen.
NR.6.
The Estruch company bought guitar parts and
even whole instruments from Telesforo Julve.
I bought this guitar in Brussels knowing that
it most likely could be built by Telesforo Julve.
Some serious damage was already clear to me
so I was able to buy it for little. A lot of
work but a kind of honest warm sound was
coming out of this guitar after it has been
repaired and finished.
Walnut back and sides but a traditional
fan braced soundboard and lots of other
elements that were clearly pointing towards
the Valencian company.
When I restored this guitar I had to remove the fingerboard
and putted back on an ebony one with a slightly smaller
scale. The octave pitch is perfect now. Besides that I
provided the bridge with the two "famous" TJ inlays.
NR.7
If you ever are visiting Malaga I would recommend you to
search the small flamenco guitar museum. It is near the harbour
For 1 Euro entrance you are able to take a close look at a lot of
guitars from celebrate luthiers around Malaga from the past.
Two guys wanted to buy both a nice mandolin. So I traded
this guitar for two mandolins. I had a collection and they had
first choice. There are hardly any guitars from Eladio Molina
(1870!) in existence so it was a nice addition to my collection.
A lot was left to be done and suspects are that the sound-
board isn't original. But despite that, a beautiful instrument
and I think that the soundboard restoration has been
executed with respect.
As was usual in those days: Brasilian rosewood for
back and sides, an endangered species nowadays.
Almost all the models of the Malaga luthiers are
bearing this headform, a kind of "salute" to history.
NR.8
I started my education on the conservatory on a Jose Ramirez 1A
concert guitar from 1974. This one I bought on an auction at
Vichy. The guitar had a horrible playing action but what a sound!
It was there already easy to determine that this guitar was much
better than the 1974 I played in those times.
Most of the time the fretwork from these older guitars is worn so
removing the frets isn't a sin and after that the fingerboard can be
shaved away towards the head in order to change the angle neck /
body. The 665 mm scale always was a bit too big for me but
I have to admit: Being a more slim neck now, the guitar became
much easier playable. I didn't play it for a longer time due
to an injury on my left hand pinky that costed me the
strength you need in some stretches....
A nice even and not figured back. Mind you, these rather
straight grained pieces of wood are less prone to cracks...
